20th JuneAn estimated 100,000 people took part in an anti-austerity march in London, calling on the government to think again about its proposed £12bn cuts..read The Observer report

10th June - Osborne announces legislation to stop government borrowingChancellor announces new legislation to ensure a budget surplus and preventing this and any future government from borrowing. read Telegraph article10th June - Osborne announces sell-off of remaining stakes in RBS & Royal Mail

5th June - Still deeper cuts George Osborne has announced that he will sell off the government's remaining stake in Royal Mail while making £3billion worth of cuts this year to all unprotected government departments. The Ministry of Defence, the Department for Education and Business, Innovation of Skills will be at the forefront of the cuts and share the burden of nearly £1.5billion worth of spending reductions between them.more . . .from The Telegraph

Government response to 477,000 signature petition on Electoral Reform “When half a million people and the leaders of five political parties are all simultaneously calling for a fairer voting system, it’s time to sit up and take notice.” - Alex Runswick , Unlock Democracy

And the government's response ? - PR was rejected in 2011 and that's an end to it.

In a survey commissioned by the Electoral Reform Society and carried out by pollsters YouGov, over 40,000 people were asked how they would have voted in the 2015 general election had they been required to rank the parties in order of preference. The report, entitled The 2015 General Election: A Voting System in Crisis, found that under a list-based system of proportional representation similar to the kind used in European elections, the outcome would have been very different, as shown below.

COMMENT / ANALYSIS

There’s no reason to accept austerity."There’s no necessity to put up with the attacks they’re [the government] about to launch on millions of people’s living standards, and every reason to resist them. The austerity programme needs to be opposed in parliament, but also with industrial action, demonstrations and local campaigns."

Academics attack Osborne's budget surplus plan77 leading economists sign letter stating that the chancellor is blind to the complexities of 21st century economics.and is taking risks to score political pointsfrom Phillip Inman article in The Guardian, 12th June

Tories already planning for an increased majority in 2020 election1. Attack Labour’s funding base from the unions - but not of course how the they themselves are bankrolled2. Extend franchise to Brits who have lived abroad for more than 15 years - elderly seen as likely Tory voters3. Redraw constituency boundaries - to their own considerable benefit from Andrew Rawnsley Article in The Observer, 7th June

Amber Rudd threatened with legal action over reduced Wind Power subsidy"The UK renewable energy industry has warned the government’s new climate secretary that she will face a legal challenge if she oversees the “wilful destruction” of the industry by retrospectively curtailing subsidies. Later this week, the Department of Energy and Climate Change will announce that the existing subsidy scheme for onshore wind power will be closed a year earlier than it was due to, according to a source close to the process."from Adam Vaughan Article in The Guardian, 2nd June